NEWSWIRE

CT20 : T&T ARE CHAMPION'S

Trinidad & Tobago put in a clinical performance against Jamaica in the final to win their second consecutive Caribbean T20 title, and once again qualify for the lucrative Champions League T20. Dwayne Bravo played a sensible innings to take T&T towards a decent total; Kieron Pollard, in one 26-run over, changed that from a decent total to a strong one; and then the miserly T&T spinners, along with Ravi Rampaul, choked Jamaica to make sure the victory was by a thumping margin.

Dwayne Bravo's innings was a crucial one, as it held together an innings that showed signs of falling apart. Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo had both been dismissed by the seventh over: Simmons was beaten in the flight by legspinner Odean Brown and edged to the keeper, and Darren Bravo also edged, while poking at an Andre Russell delivery.

Dwayne Bravo showed immediate intent by pulling Russell for four in the ninth over, but lost both Adrian Barath and Denesh Ramdin at the other end in quick succession. Barath was stumped, trying to loft Brown over long-off, and Ramdin, who replaced Daren Ganga as captain before the tournament, was bowled by a Brown flipper.

At that stage, T&T were 65 for 4 in 11.1 overs and in trouble. Dwayne Bravo reacted by lofting Brown for six and then hitting another six off Nikita Miller two overs later. He mixed caution and aggression, rotating the strike in between the big shots and was helped by the fact that Sunil Narine, at the other end, was scoring at a quick rate. Narine rushed to 22 off 15 balls, hitting two sixes, both heaves to the leg side off David Bernard's medium pace.

Pollard, who was later named Man of the Series, was initially happy to play second fiddle to Dwayne Bravo. He was dropped in the 18th over, by Marlon Samuels off Krishmar Santokie. It was the second catch Jamaica had dropped - Shawn Findlay put down a sitter to let Dwayne Bravo off the hook when he was on just 20 - and they would regret them both. Santokie, who should have had Pollard's wicket, was subjected to a mauling by him in the final over of the innings. The second ball was driven for four past cover, and the next three were bludgeoned for sixes: one over long-on, one over long-off and one to midwicket. By the end of it, Santokie, the leading wicket-taker in the tournament, had gone for 42 from his four overs.

Canadian's in record numbers watched matches on Sportsnet WORLD and Sportsnet ONE as cricket made its debut on major network television in Canada.